The San Francisco Giants’ mental toughness will be tested by the loss of Melky Cabrera to a 50-game drug suspension. So will their depth.

That might seem obvious, but sometimes the obvious answer is the right one. Those are the first two things that came to mind when Dodgers first baseman James Loney was asked what the Giants must do to overcome the absence of Cabrera for the rest of the regular season.

Loney recalled the 2009 suspension of then-Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers went 30-20 during Ramirez’s 50-game absence and actually gained two games in the division standings.

Loney said it helped that Juan Pierre stepped into the starting lineup and hit .318, stole 21 bases and scored 32 runs in those 50 games. It also helped that the Dodgers got off to a hot start that season – 21-8 when Ramirez was suspended May 7 – en route to winning the National League West title, their most recent.

“If you’re going to move forward, you have to be mentally strong,” he said.

It’s tempting to compare the Giants’ loss of Cabrera to the Dodgers’ loss of Matt Kemp earlier this season. Kemp, the Dodgers’ No. 3 hitter and batting-average leader at the time, missed 51 games with hamstring injuries. Cabrera, the Giants’ No. 3 hitter, led San Francisco in batting average (.346) and was second in home runs (11) and RBIs (60), when he was suspended for a positive test for synthetic testosterone last Wednesday.

But it’s probably more accurate to compare Cabrera to Ramirez. When you lose a teammate to a drug suspension compared to an injury, Loney said, “the reaction’s different.”

“But once the game starts, you’re battling,” he said. “It’s about the guys on the field.”

That was the key for the Dodgers during Kemp’s absence. They held on to first place until the final 10 games of Kemp’s second stint on the disabled list, which coincided with a June surge by the Giants.

“Just really coming together, having different guys step up in individual ways for a one- or two-game stretch, to try to fill the void,” catcher A.J. Ellis said. “No matter how hard you try you can’t replace a Matt Kemp. It was a big trial for us losing our three-hole hitter, and I’m sure that’s what they’re experiencing over there, but it takes 25 guys to win.”

The Giants are turning to Gregor Blanco as their starting left fielder. Blanco is a career .251 hitter through Sunday, with seven home runs in 356 games. Five of those home runs, and 19 of his 45 career steals, have come this season; Blanco was getting most of the at-bats in right field before the Giants acquired Hunter Pence from the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline.

While the Giants players have reacted diplomatically to questions about Cabrera’s suspension, Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis did not.

“Why would anybody keep doing that stuff? It doesn’t make sense to me why anybody would try,” Ellis said. “I understand that people are trying to get paid or whatever, but our testing system is so good now that it just seems like an absurd thing to do.

“I don’t think anybody here was celebrating.”

Maybe in part because the Dodgers can relate to the Giants’ predicament, they are not taking their rivals lightly during this three-game series.

Mattingly and Kemp were ejected from the game. Kemp was ejected first; he left the dugout, got in Campos’ face and made contact with another umpire in the crew but was not suspended.

Also …

Ted Lilly was scheduled to meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday. The left-hander said he felt fine after pitching two rehab innings Thursday for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, but was scratched from his scheduled appearance Sunday. – Jerry Hairston Jr. (hip) began his rehab Monday at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch facility in Glendale, Ariz., Mattingly said. The infielder/outfielder is not expected to return after the 15-day minimum disabled list stay. – Right-hander Rubby De La Rosa, who pitched four scoreless rehab innings for Rancho on Saturday, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today.